Bosnia mourns the dead after catastrophic flooding

The government of Bosnia-Hercegovina has declared a day of mourning for all those who have died following the worst flooding for a century.
Across Serbia and Bosnia at least 47 people have lost their lives – more victims are anticipated once the waters have receded.
Around 500,000 people have had to be evacuated from their homes while a quarter of Bosnia’s four million people are without clean water.
Another consequence of the unprecedented torrential rain has been landslides.
Bosnian Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija explained the impact:
“The landslides are absolutely destroying the country. We have registered about more than two thousand landslides. If I also tell you we we have about 9,400 mine fields.”
Those minefields are a left-over from the Balkans war in the 1990s.
Both Bosnia and Serbia have requested international help – a Russian emergency team has flown into join rescue efforts.
The spread of disease is the latest concern of the authorities.
Even though thousands have been forced from their homes and whole villages swept away, emergency workers are trying not to leave anyone behind – even a pet dog which was found swimming for its life.